Puppy/Dog training tips tricks and ideas

I have looked all over TW and and have not seen a thread on puppy/dog training . This will be a thread for everyone who needs advice or offer tips to help with training there best friends ( your dogs not your spouses ) lol . I have 1 1/2 old husky who was given to me who was not house trained and I am doing the kennel training as I am trying to break her from having accidents in the house . So hopefully this thread will help all of you with help on your K9s

 

I trained my Lab from 8 weeks. She's 23 months. She's super smart. Only pee'd in the house a few times, Poop a time or two the 1st few weeks.
I did kennel train her. And I also command trained her with a long lead and I of course use treats.
Sit - Stay - Down - Come - Heel. The basics. She's an inside dog and does well now. Quit chewing everything in sight after a few months.

Last fall she went to professional kennel for a month of command and obiediance training.
This Saturday she goes back to kennel for 3 months of retriever/gun dog training.

My trainer uses e-collar selectively. I'm a believer. I've done my research and have bought myself a pro model Garmin setup. For a dog in the field with all the action of a hunt, it's the way to go IMO.
I do think one needs to be very careful in its use. Done right it's a great tool. Done wrong I believe it can mess up a good dog.
So far with limited use, my pup has done well. Thank God. She responds to very low nicks. And I've never had to use continuos hits. Always make it a positive experience and lots of praise and treats when she responds. Never use it as a dicplinary tool.

A well trained dog is a beautiful thing. Watching retrievers work in the field is poetry in motion.

 

I have always had very good luck training my dogs in the past , My first do I go was a German Shepherd and I got her when she was 7 , a friend of mine could not keep her and couldent find anyone to take her and she was going to be put to sleep so I jump im and took her and It was the best match , she was full of life and she was an amazing guard dog . She lived to 14 . My next dog was Akita Chow Rottie mix , yeah I know what a mix but that dog was not only a beautiful mix , got lots of complements on her but she was well trainable . then I had a Husky German shepherd mix and again very trainable . All my dogs had extensive training beyond the typical sit ,stay ,down ect . I do guard training , release on command , patrol yard ect . But now I have a one and a half year old Female husky that has no training whats so ever and was not house trained when I got her so I had to resort to Crating her when we are not home or when we got to bed but she always seemed to escape the crate by pulling in the door or pushing it out so I had to put two steel dowels behind the door going down and two steel dowels in front of the door going across , That preventing her from being an escape artist and in the last two weeks she has not pottied in the house .Boy Huskys are very hyper dogs so It takes a little longer to train them .

 

X100 on crate training. My chessie took about a week to figure it out. I tell him to KENNEL when I put him in. Now I can say KENNEL and he'll go right in. Once they get to the point you let the out in the house, if they wake up from a nap, take them out immediately. You'll be amazed how fast they develop a routine. I tell him to TEETEE, so now I can can get him to go on command. I also make him SIT before I feed him, let him out or in the house. I'll throw him a curve occasionally and make him DOWN. Same with treats, car ride, and petting. I keep the treats in a can, when I touch the can both dogs are immediately sitting, if I stall for 2-3 seconds, they hit the floor. If your pup will be a large dog, having him SIT before petting will help eliminate jumping up on folks. Stop the jumping up immediately, what you lett him do as a pup, he'll do when he's bigger, then it is harder to fix. This includes getting on furniture and the bed, don't want to sit or sleep with a big dog, don't show that cute puppy how to get on the furniture. I take advantage of his love to retrieve. I make him SIT before I throw it. So the tennis ball is his treat. Play time becomes training time

The key is consistency and practice. The more time you work with them when they're a puppy, the better adult dog you'll have. Allot of what I said above is almost automatic with my dogs, I go to the door, they sit w/o a command, same with treats, feeding time, car rides and petting.

You need to start walking them on a leash early too. Same thing, consistency is the key. Don't let them pull you around. I like to have my dog sit when I stop walking. Helps to keep him under control. I'll take him to Lowe's occasionally and if I stop to look at something, he'll sit and let me look. I live alone and my son is with me 50% of the time, so visitors cause problems. Chesapeakes are protective and stand offish by nature, so taking him to Lowes helps socialize him. Not sure why but he had more issues with the carts than people. At 5, he still doesn't like the cart in front of him.

These are just some of the basics for a behaved dog that have worked for me. I grew up with a labs and switched to chessies. The methods I use are basically taking advantage of how they are "hard-wired". Different dogs will need different methods. But I think everyone needs to start with a crate

 

Has anyone on here ever tried to train a blue healer I am usually pretty decent at training dogs my last dog was a Weimaraner I had him for a long time and he would do anything you asked him to but I just got a blue healer puppy and I can't get him to really do anything he will have an accident in the floor while I'm looking at him do t get me wrong he is a great dog and I see a lot of potential but he is 15wk old now and he is just learning to sit good now

 

Some dogs submit to training early some dogs do not. I have had several catch on around 8 weeks and perform commands without any formal training and others go 6 - 9 months without a clue. If he is showing promise he will be fine, more than likely being a blue heeler he has a ton of energy so training will be difficult until he calms down a little bit. You may try playing with him for a while so his energy level comes down and then he may focus better for you.

I know it doesn't seem like it, but it is a good thing that he will go to the bathroom in front of you, sucks it is on your floor but good nonetheless. He is not defying you by doing it, he simply feels comfortable to pee with you around. The key to potty training any breed of dog is consistency. If your dog lives in or stays in the house quite a bit, take him or her out frequently. Most of the time when puppies or grown dogs have accidents in the house it is actually the masters fault for not taking the dog out frequently enough or not noticing the signs that the dog has to use the restroom.

Another great way to keep potty training going in the right direction is crate training. Crate the dog when you leave the house or are doing something stimulating to yourself and the dog will not be given any attention for a long period of time (i.e cooking, showering, playing video games). Always crate in a kennel that is around the same size as your dog. If you kennel a dog in a larger crate they will have plenty of area to use the bathroom in the corner and sleep in the opposing corner. Dogs do not like to lay around in their own feces and urine, so if the kennel is big enough for him and not a lot of free space he will hold his bladder until he is able to be release....now if he is left in there for extended periods of time, just like a human, they will eventually have to relieve themselves because they are no longer physically able to hold it.

Now when you take your dog out to potty always give them a command to do so, ie. potty, tinkle, pee, etc. When they finish relieving themselves always give positive reinforcement and say "good potty" and if you desire you can give treats. If you start out with this and continue it consistently you can actually train the dog to relieve themselves on command. Both of my dogs will relieve on command, my dam is much better at this than my sire, but both will go on command. This is very helpful on road trips and times when you know it will be an extended period of time before your dog will go to the restroom.

Never hit a dog and rub their nose in it. If you catch your dog in the acts give a command to "stop", pick up the dog and set it outside, and then give it the command to "potty". If you find a spot where your dog had an accident do not scold or beat your dog. Simply take them outside and give them the potty command and let them play for awhile. Never allow your dog to see you clean up their messes, this was told to me by and old dog trainer and I have ran with it since, I believe it has to do something with being the alpha in the pack. If you take your dog out to potty and they do potty praise them and also play with them outside for awhile. This shows them they get praise for pottying outside and also get to play around with the master as well.

Disclaimer - I am not a dog trainer and I have not been trained to be a dog trainer. All of my information has been learned through the dogs I have trained and from old friends who are trainers.